SC seeks AG''s assistance on PIL demanding ban on candidates contesting from two seats

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 11

The Supreme Court on Monday sought Attorney General KK Venugopal’s assistance to decide a PIL that demanded a ban on the practice of candidates simultaneously contesting from two constituencies in Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

The PIL filed by advocate Ashavani Upadhyay demanded that Section 33(7) of the Representation of People Act be declared unconstitutional.

“One person, one vote’ and ‘one candidate, one constituency’ is the dictum of democracy. However, as per the law, as it stands today, a person can contest the election for the same office from two constituencies simultaneously,” the PIL read. 

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra asked Venugopal to assist it after the Election Commission submitted it had twice sent a proposal to the Centre to amend election law to ban the practice.

EC’s counsel Amit Sharma said large sums of public money were spent in holding by-elections if the candidate won both the seats and resigned from one. Even the voters had to suffer, he said. 

He said the EC has proposed to amend Section 33(7) of the Representation of People Act (RPA) — which allows a person to contest a general election or a group of bye-elections or biennial elections from two constituencies — sent to the government. Law Commission of India accepted it but Centre has not yet replied.

The petitioner submitted that Section 70 of the Act was cited to point out that the law allowed an elected lawmaker to hold one seat only.

“When a candidate contests from two seats, it is imperative that he has to vacate one of the two seats, if he wins both. This, apart from the consequent unavoidable financial burden on the public exchequer, government manpower and other resources for holding bye-election against the resultant vacancy is also an injustice to the voters of the constituency which the candidate is quitting from,” the petition read.

“The ECI alternatively suggested that if existing provisions are retained then the candidate contesting from two seats should bear the cost of the bye-election to the seat that the contestant decides to vacate in the event of his/her winning both seats. The amount in such an event could be Rs. 5 lakh for state assembly and council election, and Rs. 10 lakh for election to the House of People.”